CHENG Yue, FAN Xiaofeng, YU Hongwei, PAN Tuo
(School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, Jingdezhen 333403, Jiangxi, China)

Abstract: MnO₂ nanoparticles were prepared by one-step redox at room temperature. The sample was characterized by XRD, FT-IR, SEM and TEM. The results indicated that the MnO₂ nanoparticles were amorphous δ-MnO₂ of uniform size with the particle diameter of 10-20 nm.Cathode catalyst MnO₂/Pt/C was synthesized by using the MnO₂ nanoparticles. The voltage, current density, power density and COD removal rate were monitored to investigate the performance of the MFC. The maximum power of MFC with the MnO₂/Pt/C cathode catalyst was 360 mW· m^−2, and the maximum powers of MFC with Pt/C and MnO₂/C catalyst were 176 mW·m^-2 and 149 mW·m^-2 under the same conditions. The removal rate of COD by MnO₂/Pt/C cathode catalyst was 78%, compared to 67% COD removal obtained by using the MnO₂/Pt/C cathode catalyst under the same conditions.
Key words: MnO₂ nanoparticles, cathode catalyst, microbial fuel cells, domestic wastewater, power density